This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all rights accruing thereto under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 through our patent applications entitled Metallic Luster Revelation Composite Containing Organic Synthetic Metallic Group For Use of Imaging Material earlier filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on the 19th day of July 1999 and there duly assigned Serial No. 29099/1999 and entitled Metallic Gloss Image Composition and Method For Fabricating The Same earlier filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on the 13th day of March 2000 and there duly assigned Serial No. 12380/2000.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an image composition such as ink or toner used in an image formation process by office automation apparatus, and more particularly, to a metallic gloss image composition with organic synthetic metallic material that allows particle size to be easily controlled in nonhomogeneous solvent and that provides a superior dispersion, is used as metallic gloss derivative. The present invention also relates to a metallic gloss image composition capable of solving aggregation of metallic gloss derivative, as well as to a method for fabricating a metallic gloss image composition.
2. Background Art
Generally, image composition such as ink or solid toner is used to transfer a printing image onto the printing paper in office automation (OA) apparatus such as ink jet printer, laser printer, copier and facsimile machine. The transfer image on the printing paper is interfaced with the user. To this end, the quality of the image composition has a direct relation to the quality of the OA apparatus. So, to enhance the quality of the image composition, many efforts have been performed. As one type of such the efforts, there is provided the use of a metal-containing inorganic pigment to allow the printing image to have the metallic gloss.
One technique for obtaining the metallic gloss to printings or paintings, is shown, for example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,475 entitled Colored Metallic Pigment. Method For The Production of Same And Products Containing Same, U.S. Pat. No 5,474,603 entitled Aqueous Metallic Ink For Ball-point Pen and U.S. Pat.No. 5,637,438 entitled Photosensitive Material And Production of Metal Colored Images Utilizing Pearl Luster Pigment. These patents mention a metal-containing inorganic pigment used in inducing the revelation of the metallic gloss.
We have found however, the metal-containing inorganic pigment has several shortcomings in directly applying them to the ink or toner of OA machines.
Generally, the conventional ink or toner uses an inhomogeneous solvent. In spite of this general condition, the aforementioned patents ""475, ""603 and ""438 have a large difficulty in controlling the particle size in the inhomogeneous solvent. So, it is almost impossible to use the metal-containing inorganic pigment as one component of the image composition.
Moreover, the patents ""475, ""603 and ""438 have a shortcoming in that the dispersion property is not good.
In order to solve this dispersion property problem, a technique adding an additional dispersion stabilizer to the inhomogeneous solvent increases the viscosity of the solvent to a large degree by the action of the dispersion stabilizer, which causes another problems in that ink or toner is not injected due to the aggregation or precipitation of them.
Also, the metal-containing inorganic pigment disclosed in the patents ""475, ""603 and ""438 has a very weak affinity to the human body and the environment.
To this end, the metal-containing inorganic pigment can be used for restricted purposes, for example, source for ball-point pen. Accordingly, we have discovered that there is a need for an improved image composition capable of revealing the metallic gloss without the aforementioned shortcomings be developed.
It is therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved image formation process, composition and method of fabricating the composition.
It is another object to provide an image formation process, composition and method of fabricating the composition able to furnish printed images with metallic gloss revelation.
It is yet another object to provide an image formation process, composition and method of fabricating the composition using organic synthesis metallic material.
It is still another object to provide an image formation process, composition and method of fabricating the composition that enhances the quality of printing image by allowing an image composition for OA machines, such as ink or toner to have metallic gloss revelation capability using organic synthesis metallic material instead of inorganic pigment.
It is still yet another to solve the problem attributable to aggregation of metallic gloss derivative contained in printing material.
It is a further object to minimize contamination of human body and environmental pollution.
These and other objects may be attained in the practice of the principles of the present invention with a metallic gloss image composition that is provided in an image forming composition. The metallic gloss image composition may be made with a hydromorphic solvent, and a polysulfurnitride derivative dissolved in the hydromorphic solvent, with the polysulfurnitride derivative a formula of R1xe2x80x94(xe2x80x94Sxe2x95x90Nxe2x80x94)nxe2x80x94R2, where R1 and R2 are a substituent group and n is a polymerized degree of a sulfurnitride polymer. Preferably, each of the R1 and R2 is one selected from the group of hydrogen, C1-C30 aliphatic compound, C1-C30 aliphatic compound having at least one functional group, C1-C30 hetero compound, hetero aliphatic compound having at least one functional group, C1-C30 cyclo aliphatic compound, C1-C30 cyclo aliphatic compound having at least one functional group, C1-C30 aromatic compound, C1-C30 aromatic compound having at least one functional group, polyoxyethylene group, polyoxyethylene having at least one functional group, polyoxypropylene group, polyoxypropylene group having at least one functional group, copolymer of oxyethylene group and oxypropylene group and copolymer of oxyethylene group having at least one functional group and oxypropylene group.
According to another aspect of the invention, a metallic gloss image composition comprises may be formed with a thermoplastic resin formed by polymerization of a plurality of monomers; and a polysulfurnitride derivative mixed with said thermoplastic resin, with the polysulfurnitride derivative having a formula of R1xe2x80x94(xe2x80x94Sxe2x95x90Nxe2x80x94)nxe2x80x94R2, wherein R1 and R2 are a substituent group and n is a polymerized degree of a sulfurnitride polymer. Preferably, the monomer is one selected from the group consisting of styrenic compound monomer, acrylic acid monomer, methacrylic monomer, acrylic acid derivatives monomer, methacrylic acid derivatives monomer, a mixture of styrenic compound monomer and acrylic acid monomer, a mixture of styrenic compound monomer and methacrylic acid monomer, a mixture of styrenic compound monomer and acrylic acid derivatives monomer, a mixture of styrenic compound monomer and methacrylic acid derivatives monomer, a mixture of acrylic acid monomer and methacrylic acid monomer, a mixture of acrylic acid monomer and acrylic acid derivatives monomer, a mixture of acrylic acid monomer and methacrylic acid derivatives monomer, a mixture of methacrylic acid monomer and methacrylic acid derivatives monomer and a mixture of acrylic acid derivatives monomer and methacrylic acid derivatives monomer.